The Hopper

Our proposal for the Sheffield Festival Centre competition took the form of a hopper, a machine that forms part of a large-scale process of collecting, mixing and condensing material. In between the roof-top garden and restaurant, auditorium, work spaces and mediatheque floors is the generous circulation space connecting them all, which flows outwards at the base of the building to form a new shop and café. Our aim was for the new Sheffield Festival Centre to play a leading role in bringing together different strands of local and national culture and representing them to the city.